Letters to the Editor: East Rockaway,Lynbrook

Posted
Wednesday, September 18, 2013 2:44 pm

Politics before people?

To the Editor: The Nassau County Legislature’s Democratic leader Kevan Abrahams claims his caucus is “committed to funding every cent necessary to rebuild” the Bay Park Sewage Treatment Plant, which was flooded by a nine-foot storm surge during Hurricane Sandy (“Let’s rebuild the sewage plant the right way,” Aug. 15-21). Well, Mr. Abrahams, it is long past time to put your money where your mouth is! As the Democratic minority repeatedly votes against repairing the Bay Park plant, Abrahams justifies stalling urgent repairs by insisting his caucus just “want[s] to see the projects done right, on time, and at or under budget.” What gall. During the decade that they were in charge, the Democrats allowed the Bay Park plant to fall into an appalling state of disrepair. We all remember the foul odors and discharges into the surrounding waterways that resulted from the Democrats’ failure to fund needed repairs for the plant. Why wasn’t Abrahams concerned about budgets or “projects done right” back then? His opposition to County Executive Ed Mangano’s proposal to rebuild the plant, and baseless fears of too little oversight and too much debt, are just a smoke screen to hide raw political motivations in an election year. All the Democratic caucus supports is obstruction. Despite their best efforts to cloak their actions in high-minded rhetoric about oversight and debt, the Democrats are doing nothing more than putting politics before people. And the residents of our community are suffering as a result. The smells emanating from the plant are horrendous. Friends living close to the plant continually tell me that the odors are so bad that they can’t use their backyards or keep their windows open on many nights. From my home, about a mile away from the plant, I can detect the pugent odor on evenings when the wind is blowing in the right direction. Of course, Mr. Abrahams’ constituents in Hempstead, Uniondale and Roosevelt never get to savor the smells that are often a daily occurrence in our community. If they did, I am sure that the Democratic caucus would stop its foot-dragging and vote for immediate funding for the total repair and renovation of the Bay Park plant.Anthony J. SantinoCouncilman, Town of Hempstead

Sid Tanenbaum, who lived in Woodmere and owned a metal-stamping shop in Far Rockaway, where he was known more for his charitable ways than his two-handed set shot, has been honored for the past 30 years with a basketball tournament that raises scholarship money for students in the Five Towns.